Bitter cold, snow forecast for entire eastern US over next several days

ABC News(NEW YORK) — Two systems will be moving through the Northeast and Midwest over the next few days bringing light snow to most heavily populated areas, but bitter cold to the whole eastern U.S.

The first system already moved through the Midwest and the Great Lakes bringing a heavy burst of snow from Minneapolis to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and into Michigan overnight.

Snow is flying Thursday morning from Michigan to western Pennsylvania, New York and into New England.

The storm system will make its way into the I-95 corridor from the Carolinas all the way into Maine on Thursday night into Friday morning.

Because it is going to be a mild day Thursday in the Northeast, the precipitation will begin as rain, then change to snow as the cold front moves through. Most areas will see minor snow accumulations, but there could be a few slick spots.

After that, our attention turns to the next storm system coming out of the Pacific Northwest and crossing the country over the weekend.

On Saturday, this storm system will move into the Midwest, bringing several inches of snow from the Dakotas into the Great Lakes, including the Twin Cities, Chicago, Indianapolis and Detroit.

On Sunday evening, as the system moves east, it will pick up a southern component and bring rain and snow to the East Coast. The heaviest snow will be inland, away from the I-95 corridor.

The snowfall totals for the Midwest and Northeast over the next several days shows the heaviest snow will be found near the Great Lakes and in the interior Northeast.

Arctic invasion

With each storm system, a new invasion of arctic air is expected. The arctic air is beginning to move into the northern Plains on Thursday morning.

Heading into Friday morning the arctic air will reach the East Coast with wind chills in the single-digits from Washington, D.C. to New York City.

Wind chills will be well below zero for the Midwest and the Great Lakes.